22. Capturing Xiao Wu

22. Capturing Xiao Wu

Tang San stared at the scene, dumbfounded. This was Master? Where had that calm composure gone—the kind that didn't even flinch when Mount Tai collapsed before him? And how had bird droppings landed right in Master's mouth so perfectly?

What kind of teacher had he taken on? Tang San felt completely disoriented.

"Teacher, are you all right?" After a moment of stunned silence, Tang San hurried over to ask with concern.

Still, worried that the bird droppings might get on him, Tang San kept a little distance from Yu Xiaogang.

"Urgh, I'm... urgh... fine." Yu Xiaogang spoke between retches, reaching out at the same time to stop Tang San from coming any closer.

But as he instinctively reached out, he accidentally smeared the bird droppings on his hand across Tang San's face.

Tang San's expression changed at once. Then he bent over and started retching too.

Meanwhile, outside the academy, Lin Ye and the others still hadn't left.

Lin Ye held a skewer of candied hawthorns and teased Lin Qiu'er with it. She opened her mouth to take a bite, but Lin Ye pulled it away, and she missed. Her little cheeks puffed up in anger.

Then Lin Ye shamelessly offered her the candied hawthorns again. When Lin Qiu'er moved to take a bite, he pulled them away once more. He repeated this until she was hopping mad.

Lin Ye burst out laughing.

"Look, there's a little rabbit." Ice Empress suddenly glanced to one side.

At that, Lin Ye perked up and looked over. A pretty little girl was skipping toward them. She looked about six years old, and was roughly as tall as Lin Ye. She wore a little pink outfit, with a pink pouch hanging from her waist.

Her pretty little face was fair and rosy, and her soft, pink cheeks looked like ripe peaches that made you want to take a bite.

Her long black hair was braided into a scorpion braid that hung past her hips, and her large, bright eyes curiously took in her surroundings.

Xiao Wu was a Hundred-Thousand-Year Soul Beast. She and her mother had lived carefree lives in the great forest. One day, a group of human Soul Masters had entered the forest, and they were after the two of them. To protect Xiao Wu, her mother had stayed behind to hold off the human Soul Masters. Xiao Wu had escaped, but her mother had been killed by the humans.

She swore to avenge her mother, so she chose to take human form and enter the human world, searching for a chance to get revenge.

Today was her first day in a human city. There were so many beautiful buildings, so many pretty clothes, and so much delicious-looking food!

As Xiao Wu looked around, a little boy stepped in front of her.

Xiao Wu blinked her big eyes and asked in a sweet voice, "What do you want? Why are you stopping me?"

"Are you Xiao Wu?" Lin Ye asked.

Xiao Wu blinked curiously. "Huh? How do you know my name?"

Lin Ye smiled. "You could say I was waiting for you to walk into my trap. Come with me."

As he spoke, he grabbed Xiao Wu by the wrist.

The word "rabbit" made Xiao Wu sensitive, and when she saw him suddenly grab her, she panicked.

"What are you doing? Let go of me! I'm going to register at the academy. Let go, or I'll call for help!" Xiao Wu struggled. She was a girl, but she was surprisingly strong.

Unfortunately, Lin Ye was even stronger. No matter how hard she struggled, she couldn't escape his grasp.

"Don't bother pretending. I could tell at a glance that you weren't human."

His words struck Xiao Wu like a thunderclap, leaving her stunned and terrified.

She knew all too well what it meant for her identity as a transformed Soul Beast to be exposed.

Next, she would either be killed or locked up.

Either way, from that moment on, she would lose her freedom.

Despair spread through her. She never imagined her identity would be exposed as soon as she arrived in the human world.

Suddenly, Xiao Wu noticed the three Snow Empresses following behind. Her gaze fell on Snow Empress's arms, where the Three-Eyed Golden Lion was happily munching on a skewer of candied hawthorns.

Xiao Wu thought these people had brazenly captured the Auspicious Beast. She was furious. "Auspicious Beast! You captured the Auspicious Beast? You awful humans! How dare you? Aren't you afraid of retribution...?"

Lin Ye: "..."

How did you figure she'd been captured by us? Xiao Wu really wasn't very bright!

Lin Ye patted Lin Qiu'er's fuzzy head, then smacked her on the rump. "So what if she's the Auspicious Beast? Is her butt off-limits or something?"

As the saying went, if you didn't tempt fate, it wouldn't come calling.

Lin Qiu'er instantly bristled. People said you shouldn't touch a tiger's butt, but did this Auspicious Beast really look easier to bully than a tiger?

She opened her mouth and bit down on Lin Ye's hand.

Ow!

Lin Ye sucked in a sharp breath from the pain and quickly pulled his hand back. He looked closely and saw two rows of teeth marks on both sides of his hand. The skin had been broken.

"Damn, you really bit me?"

"Hmph! Maybe now you'll think twice before touching my butt." Lin Qiu'er bared her teeth and struck a fierce pose.

"Fine, I'll remember that. One of these days, I'll shave all your fur off." Lin Ye refused to back down.

Xiao Wu was dumbfounded by the two of them squabbling. What was going on? Why did the Auspicious Beast seem so familiar with this human child? The noble Auspicious Beast had been touched on the butt, and the boy was completely unharmed?

No one answered her questions.

And so, Lin Ye dragged Xiao Wu all the way back to his residence.

The mood on the way back was somewhat subdued. Except for the carefree Lin Qiu'er, Snow Empress and Ice Empress didn't say a word.

At the root of it, Xiao Wu's situation had made them feel the sorrow of a rabbit facing death at the hands of a hunter.

Lin Ye had noticed as well, but there was nothing he could do. As long as Soul Masters needed Soul Rings, this conflict would never go away.

Meanwhile, at Notting Academy.

Holding a set of school uniforms, Tang San arrived at the dormitory building.

There were only seven student dormitories. Since students at junior Soul Master Academies were all quite young, they were housed together in a large dormitory building to make supervision easier.

Each dormitory had a teacher in charge.

Of the seven dormitories, Dorm Seven was rather special. It was reserved for Work-Study Students and was also the only dormitory that housed students of mixed ages. Work-Study Students of every year lived there, regardless of their grade.

Naturally, it also had the worst conditions.

After all, the academy wasn't a charity. Work-Study Students already had their tuition waived, so they couldn't expect the same treatment as ordinary students.

The door to Dorm Seven was open. Seven or eight children were making a racket inside, and they looked to be between eight and twelve years old.

Tang San's arrival drew their attention. The oldest-looking one walked over and looked down at Tang San. "New Work-Study Student?"

"Hello. I'm a Work-Study Student from Holy Soul Village." Tang San smiled.

"My name is Wang Sheng. My Martial Soul is the War Tiger. I'm going to be a Battle Soul Master, and I'm also the boss around here."